


A Star is Born

by paragraph (ebcdic)



Series: 48 Rules [5]
Category: Supernatural RPF
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Fashion & Models, Arranged Marriage, Coming of Age, Domestic Violence, Implied/Referenced Underage Sex, Infidelity, M/M, Marriage, Marriage of Convenience
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-22
Updated: 2015-03-22
Packaged: 2018-03-19 03:21:59
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Underage
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3594438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ebcdic/pseuds/paragraph
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Prequel to 48 Simple Rules for Success. Jensen looks back on his first four marriages.</p>
            </blockquote>





	A Star is Born

Jensen could've been like Paris Hilton. He didn't have to make his own name for himself. He was born an Ackles, an heir to an empire ruled by his grandfather with an iron fist. All Jensen had to do was rest on his laurels and collect stock dividends until he was old enough to get his trust fund.

But Jensen didn't want to be a spoiled brat living off a lucky birth. No, he wanted to be treated like royalty on his own merit.

He started off in modeling at age fifteen. Mainly catalogues, but a couple of spreads for local designers, too, once he hit sixteen. That's how Calvin Klein discovered him. Jensen knew the only way his grandparents were going to let him fly off to New York on his own though was if he was of age or married.

Christian Kane was a good ol' country boy playing gigs in dive bars for free beer. To pay the bills, he worked at a music shop giving guitar lessons and stocking sheet music. Jensen frequented the shop often for voice lessons, saw Christian, and immediately fell in lust. Christian was shorter than him, but he had pretty blue eyes and a quick smile. His stocky frame and the way his biceps bulged when he was stacking amps didn't hurt either. Jensen had always been attracted to strong men, even before he really figured out his own sexuality.

It didn't take much to get Christian to fuck him. Some flirting coupled with tight jeans and tighter shirts smoothed the way and Jensen sinking to his knees did the rest.

Except that Christian didn't know Jensen was only sixteen, or at least that's what he claimed. Jensen played up the innocent act, how his granddaddy was going to murder him if he found out, but maybe if it was all legitimate, it would be okay. And didn't Christian love him enough to marry him?

Jensen could tell from the beginning that Christian didn't love him so much as lusted after him like crazy. In his teenage mind, Jensen thought he was in love with Christian, although years later, he'd realize it was just the endorphins speaking, just how everyone falls in love with their first just a bit. Still, Christian did the honorable thing and a few weeks later, they were off to New York, Jensen's grandfather's scowl haunting him all the way.

Being a model wasn't enough for Jensen though. Being married to Christian wasn't enough either after a while. Christian got better and better gigs in New York and Jensen started attending some classes at the Fashion Institute and soon the only time they saw each other was when Jensen was coming home and Christian was leaving for the night. Within in six months of saying "I Do", they both knew it wasn't going to last. Christian didn't even protest the annulment.

Meanwhile, Jensen had found some investors in his fashion line; the principle one being an heir to one of the largest fortunes in America. It was an odd thing. Jensen was just as rich, just as high profile. There was really no need for Jensen to go after investors, but he didn't want this to be another vanity line. He wanted it to be something that others felt confident enough in to invest in it and help it grow.

Working so closely with Jaime Johnson was bound to have consequences. He was skinny, skinnier then Jensen, but intelligent and charming; two qualities that made Jensen overlook him not exactly being Jensen's type, physically. What made him all the more alluring was that he didn't seem to care that Jensen wasn't even seventeen yet, didn't treat him like a kid.

They married mere months after meeting, much to the chagrin of Jaime's entire family. Jensen wasn't accepted despite his own wealth and status, his age and sexual orientation working against him. Jaime's grandfather was old-fashioned, kept insisting that Jensen turned Jaime gay. Never mind that Jensen wasn't the first man Jaime had ever dated.

Their marriage was comfortable, each having their own interests, but still finding the time to be together. Jensen worked hard on his fashion line, but still did photo shoots, and quietly worked on an album on the side. Jaime made movies, attended family functions, and traveled a lot. They weren't often photographed together, often didn't leave the apartment when they did find the time to reconnect.

Jensen was just shy of eighteen when he was paired with Wentworth Miller on a photo shoot for Calvin Klein. Wentworth was gorgeous, his looks strikingly similar to Jensen's own in the feminine features on a very masculine face sort of way. It was kind of like looking in the mirror and seeing a more exotic, more poised version of himself.

Although Jaime's family accused Jensen of infidelity, and that's the story that made the gossip pages, Jensen never so much as touched Wentworth outside the photo shoots until the divorce papers were signed, sealed, and delivered. Jaime was the one who had grown bored of Jensen, who thought he was too young, too immature, to be the one on his arm as he became more famous for his movies than his last name. Jensen didn't fight the divorce, although he was heartbroken to be tossed aside after a year of marriage like he was nothing more than a one night stand.

His marriage to Wentworth was a mistake. A rebound of epic proportions. All they ever did was fight and fuck, and fight some more. But Wentworth was the one who encouraged Jensen to try acting, a small part in a soap opera for all of five episodes. They split amicably after three months of marriage, filed for divorce, and didn't speak to each other for years afterward, especially since their last night together they fought not just with words, but with punches. Jensen was ashamed to have acted out like that, and he couldn't look Wentworth in the eye anymore.

It was easier to get away, to fly off to Italy with Marco the Count, royalty in name only. They spent a couple of months in Rome together, sightseeing and shopping, but when Jensen found out that Marco had a wife and kids stashed away in Venice, that was it. Jensen wasn't a home-wrecker, a mistress, or a whore.

His return to Texas, to his grandfather's estate, wasn't exactly a welcome event for his family. Only eighteen and he had three failed marriages under his belt and nothing to show for them. His grandfather thought his so-called hobbies were ridiculous instead of something to be proud of and only wanted to talk about his empire, his business, and when Jensen was going to come to his senses and go to Harvard like every male before him in the family back to the dawn of time to get a business degree and a socialite wife.

Jensen was lonely and miserable on the giant estate, but he was just as disappointed in himself for his failed marriages as his family was, and it was easier to mope over them without paparazzi chasing him everywhere he went, because by that point, Jensen's clothing line and music career had taken off beyond his wildest dreams. And being so young and successful? Not to mention unlucky in love? He was a wet dream for the gossip rags.

Lloyd Barrister was an oil tycoon like Jensen's grandfather, but was much more hip than his age and clothing suggested. Grandfather had been trying to forge some kind of partnership with the Barristers for decades, but the families had such differing philosophies on just about every topic under the sun that the likelihood of it happening was slim to none.

Then Lloyd came to visit the Ackles estate, caught a glimpse of Jensen in a Speedo, and was smitten. Lloyd practically begged Jensen's grandfather for Jensen's hand in marriage. Of course the answer was yes, as long as it came with a merger of their two companies. Jensen had no say or choice in the manner, his grandfather had given an ultimatum, either marry Lloyd or be disowned. Even though Jensen didn't need the money that came with his last name, he felt like his grandfather was offering him redemption, like maybe for the first time Grandfather would be proud of him for who he really was instead of disappointed.

It helped that while Lloyd was initially attracted to Jensen's body, he also grew to appreciate his mind, his talent, his ambitions, and fully supported Jensen in any endeavor he came up with. Lloyd encouraged Jensen's painting, helped launch his latest record internationally, and got him a deal with Target for a line of menswear. Soon Jensen couldn't leave the house without running into, well, himself in one form or another, not to mention the paparazzi.

Jensen was admittedly something of a spoiled brat and a diva, but people also forgot that he was only eighteen. He was given no slack whatsoever, every fuck-up scrutinized and splashed across the tabloids. Lloyd was supportive, told Jensen to brush it off, that he knew the real story and so did Jensen, and that was all that mattered. But Jensen couldn't brush it off. So he created a public persona, a caricature of himself, to distance himself from all of it.

Ironically, it only made him more famous, more desirable, and gave him even less of a private life. _Jensen Ackles_ was born.


End file.
